Typical components in an optical network may include combiners, separators, optical fiber spans, and optoelectrical components, such as dynamic gain equalizers (DGEs), optical performance monitors (OPMs), amplifiers, and optical add/drop multiplexers (OADMs). Each optoelectrical component coupled to an optical network introduces increased complexity and cost to the network, potentially reduces network reliability, and introduces optical performance losses. DGEs are implemented in optical networks to equalize the signal strength of the various wavelengths in the optical signal, as the various wavelengths lose optical signal power at different rates as they travel through the network. In the process of equalizing the signal strength of the input wavelengths, a portion of the optical signal strength of the light input into the DGE is lost. This results in a reduction of signal strength of the optical signal output from the DGE as compared to the optical signal strength input to the DGE. In a similar manner, losses occur when the optical signal passes through the various OPMs that may be coupled to the optical network.
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) in optical networking requires nonintrusive optical monitoring of power, noise, wavelength accuracy, and line width to reduce the amount of optoelectronics and increase the reliability of the optical network. Optical signal losses, such as those created by DGEs and OPMs, are undesirable in optical networks. Therefore, a need exists to improve the efficiency and reliability of optical networking, while reducing component count, cost, and optical performance losses.